Obligatory Christmas Post

Hi! How was your holiday weekend?

Mine was good. Much, much better than Thanksgiving.

Friday night we went to church and I was decked out in my new outfit from my in-laws. Sorry, no picture. We rushed home after the service because we were all hungry as we hadn't eaten dinner yet. Plus my cinnamon rolls were rising and needed to be baked before I went to bed.

The service was simply okay. I expect a few things out of a Christmas service; a candle light ceremony, communion and some traditional hymns/carols sung with clear strong voices. The service we went to had none of those things. To make matters worse, we got there right on time, at 6, and when we got to the door the greeters asked us how many were in our party. Three, we said and they told us it was alright for us to go in, but they had very few seats left and they had been turning larger groups away. What the what? Turning people away on Christmas eve?! Seriously? There was no room in the inn, but they at least found a place for Mary to deliver her baby. We won't be returning to that particular church.

Anyway, Saturday, Andy and Drew both had to work, but Drew only worked half a day, so he was here in the morning and Andy got to come home for a long lunch. That was nice. I wasn't all alone from sun up to sun down. And when they were gone I was a cooking fool while I alternated between listening to carols and watching Christmas movies.

On the menu: duck, raspberry relish, dinner rolls, dressing, prosciutto wrapped green bean bundles, acorn squash, hash-brown casserole and cherry pie for dessert.

It was a delightful dinner. This was my first time making duck and it was so, so good. However, if you have a large crowd it would be prudent to cook two or three ducks. They don't have a lot of meat.

How was your Christmas day?